April 10, 2011
CWV-101
Professor Carleton
The Cosby Show
This assignment proved to be a very difficult one for me, for the very fact that I just don’t watch a lot of television at all. I don’t find much of anything at all that is entertaining to me. So many of the sit coms today have such a dysfunctional portrayal of families and I find that many of them down right degrade and show nothing but disrespect for the father’s especially. Nonetheless I chose to use “The Cosby Show” as my program of choice because it is one I used to watch when I did find time for television viewing and found it somewhat entertaining.
I think that The Cosby Show had a very practical portrayal of how a family should operate. Although it lacked a direct Christian perspective, it was still a clean, positive influence on our society. It was humorous without finding is necessary to be vulgar or obscene like so many shows on television today. In addition to its clean proper humor, I’d say it was a step forward for African Americans in that it was the depiction of college educated upper class African American parents, raising their children to ultimately attend college as well. Unlike many previously aired African American programs that painted a picture of these families being from the ghetto or always struggling to get ahead, this show was an example of how hard work and living by the expectations of society, that anyone could be successful despite their obstacles.
I’d like to believe that the Huxtable’s portrayed a Christian world view although I can’t remember a lot of specific references to God or what they believed or them actually even going to church. The very setting was of a warm, genuine family man who very lovingly raised his children with humility and of course, a touch of Cosby humor. He loved and admired his wife, and she loved and respected him. They were a team when it came to raising their children without undermining each other’s authority.